


By the Moons I Honour Thee

by Zanderhornsby43



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 52nd century, Action/Adventure, Chula Warship, F/M, Gen, Science Fiction, The Church
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23613376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanderhornsby43/pseuds/Zanderhornsby43
Summary: In the 52nd century, the Church hires assassins and bounty hunters to help the cause. With a Dalek civil war on the horizon, the Sontaran's making advances and the ever looming threat of Upgrading, the galaxy is on the cusp of all out conflict. But in the dark coners of the galaxy, talk of a blue box and an unnamed man gathering allies is putting all of that into preportion.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

The colours of Faster-Than-Light gave Jules a headache.

Slipstream engines were the fastest form of FTL but it came at the cost of comfort; the ride was bumpy and the slipstream tunnel wasn’t entirely stable, but the speed more than made up for it. The headache wasn’t a priority right now, however. The Dalek Saucer in pursuit was a far more pressing issue.

“Computer, how far behind is the hostile?” Jules asked hurriedly, his fingers dancing over a keyboard.

“Four kilometres and closing,” the cool robotic voice replied. “They still have a weapon lock despite your efforts.” The usually emotionless electronic speech contained an almost undetectable tone of condescension. Jules raised an eyebrow but ignored it. Now was not the time to get into a shouting match with the computer. He spun the chair to look backwards and a holographic screen showing the rear of the ship flickered into life. The Dalek Saucer was gaining slowly - a blue laser bolt flew past the ship. The lock was not perfect, it seemed. Spinning back forward, Jules threw the ship into a pattern of evasive manoeuvres to shift the Dalek lock.

“Tell me you fixed the cloak!” Jules yelled at the hatch down to the cargo hold.

“It’ssss taking sssome time,” hissed the response. The female Ice Warrior was no engineer. “Illegal cloaking devicessss don’t come with manualssss!” The ship violently lurched as a laser bolt sheared through the starboard wing.

“Warning. Hull damage sus-” The voice was cut off buy the blaring sound of a Dalek.

“FLEEING VESSEL. CEASE FLIGHT AND PREPAIR TO BE EXTERMINATED!” 

“Piss off, tin can.” Jules retorted to himself, barrel-rolling the ship and dodging more bolts. “Rakara, tell me the time circuits work.”

“Currently, yessss,” she responded, confused. “Whhhy?”

Jules avoided the question, “Ready a Z-Neutrino torpedo.”

The Chula warship the _Selene_ dropped out of slipstream just ahead of the Dalek saucer and disappeared. Two seconds later, the Dalek vessel exploded and the _Selene_ flew out from the wreckage.

*****

Leaving the remains of the Dalek ship far behind, Jules punched in the coordinates for the planet Balthazar and engaged the slipstream engines. Getting up from the command chair, he climbed down to the cargo bay to where Rakara was waiting, her arms folded.

“A time Jump?” She hissed menacingly, “The Churshhhh will impound the _Ssssselene_ this time.”

“The Church won’t find out; their temporal department is too busy hunting for a blue box to worry about a small retrograde hop.” Jules was trying to convince himself more than her. He was worried they’d take away the Selene and leave him stranded on some backwater world. He ran a hand through his scruffy black hair, exposing his left eye…or what was left of it. The cyber implant had not been some off-the-books black market upgrade, but a full-on conversion, or what was supposed to have been. The process had been interrupted by Rakara – a debt he would never be able to fully repay. Rakara’s crimson eyes looked him up and down.

“You need a sssshower,” she finally said after a few moments pause. “You ssssmell of sssweat and adrenaline.”

Jules nodded in agreement, “You have control,” he said softly and walked to the shower room.


	2. Chapter 2

The Selene emerged from Slipstream on the edge of Balthazar’s orbit. The planet was a city world, with population figures numbering in the hundreds of billions. Jules piloted the ship along an approach corridor and set her down on a floating landing pad hovering between skyscrapers. The cargo ramp opened and Jules strolled out into the driving rain; the planet had global storm systems caused by the ionisation of the atmosphere. Too many star ships, Jules thought to himself as he walked toward the public transmat booth. The booth looked like a glass telephone box with a number pad fixed to one side where the transmat location was dialled in. With a zapping sound, Jules was rematerialized on the pavement outside an unassuming three-story building in the undercity. The door slid open with a click and he continued inside. The corridor was a pale sickly green colour, made worse by the dim lighting. Jules made for the only door at the far end, however before he got there, the door opened and a man stepped through…no, not a man, a flesh avatar.   
“Halt!” the Flesh announced. “Identify yourself.”  
“Jules Flynn, contract bounty hunter for the Church.” Jules replied with a bored expression. This routine was getting old now. The church had become so paranoid since word of the Doctor reached them; Jules wasn’t interested in galactic politics. For the most part he just liked getting paid.   
“You may proceed,” the flat voice informed him. Jules pushed past the flesh guard and into the office of Adrian Ziegler.  
“Sit down Jules.” Adrian didn’t look up from his holopaper, but Jules did as commanded. “Word has reached me of a destroyed Dalek ship in sector B37, was this you?”   
“I’m not sure what-” Jules was cut off.  
“The destruction was caused by a Z-Neutrino device, something which is illegal in most galaxies. So, I ask again: did you have anything to do with it?” Adrian’s voice was calm and slow, his steel grey eyes studying Jules over the paper.   
“You’re more worried about a Z-Neutrino device than my time hop?” Jules asked, perplexed.  
“In all honesty Jules, I’m not worried about either. Top brass is. However, you report to me and I need you.” Adrian clicked his fingers and the holopaper fizzled out of existence. With a tap on the keyboard another hologram appeared; this one took the image of a jet-black crystal, shaped like a cut diamond. “This,” he gestured, “is the Vortex Core.”  
Jules raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to mean something?”  
A harsh look. “The Vortex Core is possibly the most powerful artefact ever discovered. The Core can wire itself into any navigational system and gives it the positional data of every ship in the galaxy.”  
Jules blinked. “How the hell would it know that?”   
“We don’t know - no one does. But it’s true and it’s missing. Top brass doesn’t want people knowing about this as we don’t exactly need a mass panic on our hands, but if we don’t get to the device…we can’t imagine the damage the Daleks, Cybermen or Sontarans could do with that data.” Adrian stood up. “You’re the best tracker we have in our employ, we need you to locate the object for us. Its last known location was in the Delirium Cathedral; the headless monks had it in their possession.”  
Jules just sat there, slightly stunned. Cloaking and time travel were one thing, but to know the position of every ship in the galaxy…to have that power… “I’ll find the device. But to destroy it. No-one should have that power.” He shifted to stand and froze, hearing the cocking of a gun behind him. “This is about that Doctor isn’t it? You want to know where he is. You may be a galactic peacekeeping force but you don’t have the right to people’s locations, and you don’t have the right to kill whoever you want.”  
“The Doctor is a threat to the Church and the galaxy; he must be stopped!” Adrian spat, “We received a message from the future - he will destroy all of us. This galaxy, this universe. A war without end. With the Core we will know his location and we can end his reign of terror.”  
Jules dared to stand, feeling the gun barrel in his back. “I will not give you the device. Find him yourself if you have this much courage in your convictions, but I grew up on the stories of a man, a wanderer, who helped people, who saved people. Now if he is this Doctor then by the moons, I will not help you.” His breathing quickened, anticipating a fight. He fidgeted with the ring on his left little finger.  
Muscles flexed in the other man’s jaw. “Then it seems you have outlived your-” before Adrian could finish, Jules twisted the ring and the room froze. The desk fan in the back corner ceased spinning; Adrian stopped talking. Jules looked around. The micro Time-Stop would only last a few minutes, enough time to vacate the building and gain a small head start on the Church…


	3. Chapter 3

The door slid open onto the busy street and Jules quickly dashed through followed by a stream of bullets. The flesh avatar followed round him onto the pavement before a red energy bolt made a neat hole through his head. The puddle of flesh sent the last of the people screaming and Jules sprinting.   
A voice came through on his earpiece. “What have you done?” the reptilian voice asked “There issss a Church landing sssship here. They are armed!”   
“Get the ship in the air now, lock onto my communicator and teleport me onboard!” Jules hung up, still running. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he thought to himself. They couldn’t be allowed get hold of the Core, they’d know everything. The galaxy would become a police state run by the Church. That couldn’t happen. The sound of the Selene’s engines interrupted his thoughts; the ship was cruising amidst the air traffic between the buildings.   
“Prepare to teleport.” Rakara announced over the com. Jules stopped running once he was on board the Selene, suddenly taste a metallic tang.   
“Get us out of here, fast!” he shouted up at Rakara. The cargo bay shook as she launched into a vertical climb, triggering the artificial gravity’s sudden activation.   
“Whereeee are we going?” Rakara queried, flicking switches, and spooling up the slipstream engines. The ladder creaked and she looked round to see Jules climbing up.   
“Get us into Sontaran space, they won’t come looking for us there.”  
“Ssssontaran sssspace?!” Jules noted a new expression on the Ice Warriors face: surprise. “Are you nutssss?!”  
“I very well might be, Rakara, but that’s also an order so please, jump.”  
Rakara pulled down on the overhead lever and the Selene jumped into a Slipstream tunnel.

*****

Jules sat back in the pilot seat, his classic earth sunglasses on, admiring at the bright lights of slipstream while listening to the song Rakara was singing in the shower. Ancient North Martian was quite a beautiful melody when sung properly and the singer-turned bounty hunter hadn’t lost any of her talent.   
“Computer, is the Cloak repaired enough for sensor shielding?” He adjusted his sunglasses.  
“Affirmative, Captain.” The monotone voice replied. If they couldn’t be completely invisible then being undetectable will have to do, Jules thought. He just hoped no-one would look out of their windows.  
Rakara climbed up the ladder dressed in just a towel, in the process of drying her dreadlock hair. Her large, crimson ovula eyes blinked repeatedly in the bright light. “I have come to sleep, Julessss.” She walked over to the bed built into the wall just behind the cockpit. “If you don’t mind.”  
“Of course.” he flicked a switch and the filters dropped over the windows, blocking all light, before removing his sunglasses and pinching his nose. “I’ll leave you to it. By the way, your singing is amazing.” He smirked and climbed down the ladder. He almost caught a glimpse of her cheeks paling with a slight blush before the pillow was thrown at his head. Jules trudged towards his bunk built into the side of the small cargo bay. The bay was built between the engines and wasn’t quite big enough, Jules thought. The ship itself was originally built for one occupant and no cargo. When time travel capabilities, cloaking and tremendous firepower come together, little space is left. But the Selene was home. The cargo bay never really contained much cargo, it was just the empty space where stuff went; his bed for instance, and the shower. The weapon locker took up most of the space on the left wall. Against the back wall sat banks of servers to make the ship’s Computer run as fast as possible. The previous owner had been a little eccentric, claiming that he had to defuse an ancient bomb before he could fly it. He was, however, a raving alcoholic and a gambler and it didn’t take Jules long to win the ship from him at the Black Pyramid Casino. The cloaking device made it a perfect vessel for bounty hunting, and the time circuits were a plus. Jules walked over to the weapon locker and pulled down his sword. The last time he’d used it was when he rescued Rakara from slavers. He drew the sword with a flourish and the bronze-coloured blade gleamed in the light. Its single wicked-sharp edge was cut off at an angle at the top, giving it a slightly industrial look compared to most swords. The blade was made from Metalert, a reinforced alloy of Dalekanium, which meant it was strong and had a keen enough blade to cut through most enemies, including Daleks themselves if he could get close enough.  
Out of nowhere, the engine pitch suddenly changed and Jules ran for the ladder. When he reached the top, he saw Rakar already at the controls. “We have dropped out of sssslipsssstream - look.” She pointed out the window.  
Outside was a warzone. Sontaran command ships and scout ships were under attack from a giant fleet of Cyber cruisers.


	4. Chapter 4

10 years ago,  
Jules had to move faster.   
It was only a matter of time before he would be detected. The lack of security cameras was a plus however; he had done harder jobs than this before. Even so, infiltrating a Sycorax ship was not his idea of fun, and he wanted to get this job done as soon as possible. Jules peered around the corner and spied two walking towards him. They were armed only with swords and seemingly engrossed in conversation. Jules fitted a silencer module to his Alpha Meson blaster and strode around the corner. The Sycorax’s masks gave no emotion but the tilt of the head was one of surprise, right before two silent red laser bolts burned holes between their eyes. Jules moved swiftly past the smoking corpses and toward the far door, which according to his holomap was the entrance to the prison cells. The door slid open with a press of the big red button and revealed the mass of slaved being transported. The guards turned towards the opened door but were gunned down by more precise laser bolts before they could draw their swords. Looking out over the sea of prisoners he could see numerous different species: Humans, Raxacoricofallapatorians, the bug-like Uvodni and even an Ice Warrior.   
“Computer, you listening?” Jules asked.  
“Always Captain. What do you require?”  
He crouched down, searching the Sycorax bodies for keys. “There are over two hundred prisoners here and we can’t transport that many.”   
“I will send out an alert to the Church. Perhaps they can send a cruiser to assist.” Her flat voice was hardly reassuring.   
“Knock yourself out, I’ll do what I can here.”  
“Knock myself out…do you mean I should shut down Capt-”  
“No, Computer! It’s a figure of speech.” Jules sighed, and began unlocking the cells.  
“Okay Captain…I shall send that alert now.” The far door opened and two Sycorax marched in. They drew their swords, but too late, as they fell under a mass of shouting bodies. The ex-prisoners were spilling out into all the corridors and hallways of the ship. Jules noticed an Ice Warrior still sat at the back of the cell and ran over to her.   
“Come on, we need to get moving before they get the riot under control,” he said to the Ice Warrior. “What’s your name?”  
“Rakara…” she said after a few moments pause. “It’ssss too hot in here. And my cooling ssssystem wassss damaged when they captured me.”  
“Hold on one sec.” Jules rummaged around in his coat pockets. After a minute he pulled out a sonic probe, “This should fix the circuitry.” The probe was about fifteen centimetres long with a forked end and the tips of the forks glowed green when activated. Jules had traded it for an old love letter the last time he was at the Rings of Akhaten’s market, although he had to admit it wasn’t his love letter, but one he’d liberated for just that sort of eventuality. The only thing Jules really cared about was his ship and his sword. Two things he could not part with.   
“Is that better?” Jules asked, pocketing the probe.  
“Muchssss, thank you.” She stood up, a little unsteady, “What isss your name?”   
“I’m Jules, now please take my hand.”  
“Whhhy, I can walk fine.”  
Jules laughed, “It’s not about walking. We need to teleport off this ship onto mine and I’ve only got one relay. So please…” he held out his hand, “trust me.” Rakara stared at him through the deep red lenses on her mask, before reaching out and taking his hand.  
The familiar metallic tang filled his mouth and they were back on the Selene. Rakara was looking around, her head tilted to the right. She’d probably have a confused expression if he could see her face.   
“How…how are we following the Ssssycorax sssship? It’s at warp.” she enquired eventually.   
“This ship has a powerful tractor beam, but in this instance, I’m using it as a tow rope, keeping us anchored to the ship. It jumped to warp and we followed.” She nodded and sat down, looking out the window into the blue streaks of the warp field.   
“Why me?” she queried, “why ressscue me?”   
“Because I was asked to. Your mother reported you missing and the Empress usually gets her way. But I won’t take you back if you don’t want me to.” He sighed and sat in the pilot seat, “While I was tracking you down, I realised you wanted to get away. You joined this life of excitement and adventure to escape from the boredom of court life and being the daughter of the Empress. Not that the life of a royal Ice Warrior could be entirely boring. I imagine you’ve seen battle before.”  
Rakara’s head dipped a little. “Not exactly. My mother hassss made usss a pacifissstic race. We no longer ssseek bloodshed, we no longer write poemssss of war.” She made a noise which Jules took to be a sigh. “All I wass able to do assss a Shsurr was sssing and entertain.” She took off her mask, revealing her beetle-like crimson eyes and dreadlocks draped over her shoulders.   
“Then I won’t take you back.” Jules said after a moment pause. “You don’t want that life and I can give you a way out that doesn’t involve Sycorax slavers.”   
“But if you do not return me to my mother, will sssshe not be angry?”  
“I imagine so…would she send her own soldiers after us?”   
A nod. “Mossst likely. Do you fancy ssspending the ressst of your life looking over your ssshoulder?”   
Jules smirked. “Do you?”   
It was then that he witnessed a smile from her – likely her first true one in a long time. “Sssounds like fun, I will join you. Ssso where ssshall we go firsssst?”  
“Woman Wept is nice this time of year...” Jules offered  
Rakara walked over to the controls, “We sssshould probably disssconect the tractor beam.”  
Smart. “That switch there.” Jules pointed to a switch above the windows, Rakara smiled again and flicked it.  
The Selene dropped out of warp with nothing to latch onto anymore, did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree flip and leaped straight into a slipstream tunnel…


	5. Chapter 5

Present day…  
The Selene dodged and dived through the laser fire, chased by two Cyberfighters. The Chula Warship skimmed the surface of a Sontaran command ship, flying up through the claw-like arrangement at the top of the ship. The Selene pulled a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree flip and opened fire with its triple cannons, shredding the Cyberfighters.   
“Computer, how isss Julessss’ condition?” Rakara questioned, swinging the Selene round the back of a Sontaran ship, out of the line of fire.  
“His condition seems stable; analysis shows he suffered from a severe panic attack.”   
“A panic attack? What causssed it?” Rakara hurried over to her bunk in the cockpit where Jules was lying, muttering and shaking. “Could it be the Cybermen? Ssssome sssort of reawakened memory?”  
The cool, formless voice replied, “It is possible. He may still have a connection to the hive mind. If so, being in this close proximity could have reactivated it. Recommendation: vacate the area immediately.” The Computer shut off. Rakara got back into the pilot seat and flicked the switches to begin the Slipstream engine spooling up sequence. 

*****

Meanwhile in Jules subconscious…   
This was a memory, it had to be, Jules thought to himself. He wasn’t back here, he couldn’t be. The shiny silver interior of the spaceship was spotted with blood as the Cybermen rushed to upgrade people captured mid-battle. Jules was trapped in a line of people waiting to be converted. The ship was one big factory for conversion; it would loiter at the edge of a battle and latch onto the damaged ships with a tractor beam before teleporting everyone onto the Cybership to await conversion.   
If this is a memory, can’t I just break out?  
“Jules!” he froze, the monotone, lifeless voice of the cyberman stopped him mid thought. “You must re-join the Legions! We do not give up what was ours. Join us. Join us. Join us…”

*****

Back in reality…  
Jules awoke on the floor of the Selene in the midde of Rakara throwing the ship into all manner of evasive manoeuvres.   
“What is going on, Shsurr?” Jules shouted to be heard over the sound of the engines at full throttle.  
“Cyberfighterssss!” She hissed back. “I think they decided we were a better target than the Sontaranssss.”  
Great. “Computer!” Jules yelled.  
“Yes Captain?”  
“Remind me to install rear-facing weapons.” Jules walked as best he could over to the cockpit. Out of the window was pure destruction - the wrecked hulks of star ships littered the battlefield and the few remaining ships were trading shots through the thick wreckage. “Rakara, fly past the front of the nearest Sontaran ship. Try and get its flank guns to take out our pest problem.” Rakara nodded and weaved the Selene through the debris field, towards the remaining Sontaran ship. Jules jumped down to the cargo hold, ran over to the cloaking device and began his attempt to fix the system.   
The Selene sped through the floating remnants of ship, scattered armour plating and dead crewmembers, all the while dodging the Cyberfighters’ laser bolts. Rakara threw the ship into a dive to port down through the remains of a Cyber Carrier’s hangar bay. The Cyberfighters tried following but one lost control, slamming into a wall and exploding, taking a second with it. The final fighter stuck to the Selene like tar until it followed the Chula warship past the Sontaran ship and a stray laser bolt cut it in two. With a hum, the cloaking device came to life and the Selene faded from view.  
“Rakara, take us above the battlefield.” Jules commanded, ascending back up to the Cockpit.   
“Of coursssse. Are we cloaked?”  
“From all sensors and visual receptors, yes. Now let’s see who wins thi-”  
“Captain!” The computer’s electronic voice cut over him. “There is a new ship leaving FTL.”  
Between the remains of the Sontaran and Cyber fleets a ship emerged from a blinding streak of light. The ship opened fire in both directions and the two fleets exploded.   
“That can’t be.” Jules gasped, turning white.  
“What issss it?” asked Rakara, confused.  
“It’s the SS Pentallian…”


	6. Chapter 6

The Selene was drifting. Upon seeing the Pentallian, Jules had activated Silent Running mode and all non-essential systems to shut down. This combined with the cloak…Jules hoped they’d be safe for now. Rakara sat on her bunk, using a knife to clean her talon-like fingernails while Jules paced up and down the small space.  
“Julessss, please ssstop pacing. It’ssss making me edgy.” The look she gave him was one of concern.  
“You’ve never heard of the Pentallian?” he asked, ceasing pacing but his fingers still twitched by his side.  
“No, should I have?”  
“It’s a long story, but I suppose as we’re in Silent Running mode I’ve got the time to tell it.” He sat down in the pilot seat and swivelled to face her. “No-one really knows where the Pentallian came from, but all the stories start with a similar beginning. The ship was a forty-second century transtellar cargo ship which by some means or another became possessed by a star.”   
Rakara looked at him sceptically. “A ssstar?”  
“Yes, a sentient star. Back then it was largely unheard of, although not untheorised. The ship employed a primitive fuel scoop and it stole some of the stars matter. The star wanted it back and so possessed the crew. The matter was given back but the ship disappeared from all official record after that. Within the next one thousand years the ship was like a ghost, popping up out of nowhere with a unique FTL capability, disabling cargo ships and cruise liners and relieving them of their valuable goods. A pirate ship with no port, no traceable FTL signature and few survivors. Over the centuries it descended into myth and legend with privateers and bounty hunters all going after this fabled ship with no success.”  
Rakara got up and walked over to the window, looking out to see if it was still there. “Sssso how do you know ssso much?”   
“I had my own brush with the Pentallian many years ago, when I was still a teenager and a cadet in the Church.” Rakara squinted slightly, in all their years together he’d never mentioned joining the Church, but she didn’t interrupt him. “I joined the cadets with a friend, Edmund Brannon, he was a brilliant crewman and would have risen up the ranks quickly due to his incredible gift. He could memorise any battle strategy and come up with all manner of ways to beat it. This made him invaluable to the Churches fleet and he was immediately stationed on a frontline cruiser. Three months into his patrol, the small fleet was set upon by the Pentallian and all hands were lost. However, I believe Brannon was captured because from that day on the Pentallian knew all the Churches moves, all their plans before they made them and any strike against them resulting in major casualties. The Pentallian also became more aggressive, exploiting weaknesses in the Church’s ships that Edmund had pointed out to me.” Jules spun the seat around and turned off Silent Running. “Anyway, we can’t sit here forever. Prep the Slipstream engines.”  
Rakara climbed down to the cargo bay and accesses the computers. The ship began to vibrate as the many systems began to restart, Jules flicked a couple of switches and the engines flared into life. The Selene cruised through the debris field, attempting to place large chunks of ship between them and the Pentallian. 

*****

The flight deck of the Pentallian had been upgraded a considerable amount since the 42nd century; the surfaces were now shiny black with red holograms and touchscreen, a far cry from the steam and dials of the original layout. Captain Edmund Brannon strode down the long corridor in the spine of the ship, connecting the engine to the bridge. When the ship was a cargo vessel the crates would be attached to brackets under the spine, reducing the need for specialised interior cargo space. The slim frame now aided the ship as hard target to hit and the old cargo brackets now held a battery of high-powered railguns. Brannon reached the bridge and was greeted by a large holographic screen displaying the view in front of the ship.  
“All hostile targets destroyed sir,” a deep voice announced. The mask distorted the sound until it was barely human.  
“Any salvage from the ships?” Brannon asked, treading over to the slightly raised dais in the middle of the room. Stepping onto the platform, holograms to the left and right flicked into life displaying ship systems.  
“Negative, hostile targets were Sontaran and Cyber. No resources for our master,” the voice grated. Brannon wished they could take the ridiculous masks off but…  
…Was that an individual thought Edmund? Brannon winced, the low voice in his head had made him jump. I do hope it wasn’t a thought. I granted you some free will but not much. I do hope you won’t abuse your station…  
“No Sir,” Brannon said under his breath, “I won’t abuse my station.” The surrounding crewmembers either didn’t hear or pretended not to. Not that they had any free will at all; they were just mindless drones doing their master’s bidding without question. The Torajii star had possessed them, as was the curse of surviving an attack from the Pentallian. You became part of the crew. For Brannon, however, he still remembered things. He still had feelings and some of his own thoughts.   
“Captain, a new ship is emerging from Hyperspace.” Hyperspace, Brannon thought, must be a church vessel, only they dabble in hyperspace technology.   
The ship that emerged from Hyperspace was unlike any Church ship he had seen.   
“Scan the vessel.” He ordered to the nearest crewman. The readouts of the ship appeared on Brannon’s holographic display. The ship was huge, twice as long as the Pentallian at four hundred and twenty metres.   
“We are being hailed Sir.”   
“On screen.” Brannon had little time for the Church and could most likely best their ship in a fight, but he had a job to do and this wasn’t it. The large holographic screen at the front of the bridge then crackled into life and the image of a man appeared.   
“This is Colonel Manton of the Divine Providence. Am I addressing the captain of the Pentallian?” The stern voice was not a tone Brannon was accustomed to as the captain of a feared pirate ship, but he let it pass.  
“This is Captain Edmund Brannon. To what do I owe the pleasure, Colonel?” Brannon swiftly typed a message to his First Officer, not taking his eyes of the screen; charge the chase cannons, prep broadside railguns and prime forward shields.   
“The Church has been attempting to track down your ship for many years, Captain. I am here to offer you employment as a Corsair in service to the Church. We need as many strong alliances as possible.” Brannon inwardly scoffed. If they only knew the truth about this ship.   
“I’m afraid I must decline; this ship has a purpose and my benefactor will not let me impede my duty.”   
The Colonel arched a brow. “The Pentallian has destroyed many Church vessels over the last hundred years, an act which does not put you in a favourable light with me. My superiors, however, believe you could be an invaluable asset. You used to be a cadet for us, Brannon…aid us in this fight.” Manton paused, his face becoming solemn. “Or this, the latest and most powerful warship in the fleet, will destroy your insignificant freighter. You have five minutes to decide.” The image faded, replaced with the view out of the front of the ship of the jet-black warship facing them down.

*****

Colonel Manton stood on the bridge of the Divine Providence waiting for Brannon’s reply. The regular interior of a Church vessel could be likened to a cathedral with its high ceilings and luminescent colours. This ship however was dark in colour – the computer monitors glowed blue against the dark grey walls, celling and floor. Guarding the door to the Bridge stood two of the Silence, Confessional priests who were engineered to be memory-proof. The moment someone looked away from them, any recollection of them was erased. Manton reached up to check if his Eye Drive was still in place – an eyepatch-like device which enabled the wearer to remember the Silence. He surveyed the Bridge. It fit his functional style, he thought, walking to the large reinforced windows at the front. Looking out at the Pentallian, the potentially hostile ship was tiny compared to the vast warship he was in command of. However, Kovarian had warned him not to underestimate that ship or its captain. He glanced down at the electronic timepiece on his wrist, the silver colour bold against the olive green of his uniform. It had been five minutes.   
“Sir,” a young ensign ran up to him, “We are being hailed.”  
“The Pentallian?”  
“No sir, a vessel going by Selene. The captain asked to speak to you personally, on a secure channel.” Manton walked over to the monitor and typed in his personal clearance code.

*****

Jules was sat in the pilot seat, carefully studying the standoff before him when his communicator crackled to life.   
“This is Colonel Manton, to whom am I speaking?”  
“Colonel, I’m currently positioned at two o’clock off your starboard bow, cloaked and ready to engage the Pentallian. Your ship does not have the capacity to withstand its firepower, whereas mine can outmanoeuvre it.” Yes, he had nerve, but this was a dangerous situation. Caution wasn’t something they currently had a lot of time for.  
“Who are you and what makes you think you can command me? This is the most advanced Church warship! We are more than capable of crushing a jumped-up little cargo ship.”  
Jules rolled his eyes. “This is...” Jules paused, unsure if he wanted to give his own name. “Jack Harkness, bounty hunter.” He remembered a name he had seen carved into the metal frame above Rakara’s bunk.  
“Well, Jack Harkness, I do not take orders from bounty hunters and I suggest that you make yourself scarce because once we’ve finished with them, we’ll be after you. All bounty hunters in this sector are under our command, which makes you either rogue or insubordinate.” The com clicked off and Jules immediately powered up the Slipstream engines.   
“Ssso,” Rakara hissed, “Your grand plan wassss just to ssstall them ‘till we had enough power to leave? But it isss a church vesssssel, we ssshould hit it with a Z-Neutrino torpedo and be done with it, or they’ll give our possssition away.” Jules raised an eyebrow at her, his cyber eye conveying no emotion.  
“We don’t mindlessly kill, Rakara, you know that. Where has this bloodthirsty streak come from?” He was genuinely concerned for his companion. She had killed before – they both had – but in all their time together, she had never gone out for blood.   
“While you were talking to the Colonel, I received a priority distresssss call from New Marsssss.” Despite running away, Jules knew she still cared for her home world. “The Church have annexed it, ssssaying they need it for the War. The population have attempted a rebellion against them and the Church has launched a full sssscale invasion.” Her huge red eyes welled up with tears, “What can we do, Julessss?”  
Jules just sat there. “I don’t know…” 

*****

Colonel Manton watched with narrowed eyes the Selene leave through the window; the cloaked vessel was briefly visible as a shimmer against the colours of the Slipstream tunnel before they both disappeared. That left him alone with the Pentallian. The pirate ship had ignored his hails but did not seem to be doing anything. Manton turned to his First Officer, a heavy-set man in his thirties with short raven hair and a crooked nose.  
“Clean up this mess Valentyne.”  
“Of course, sir.” Valentyne turned to the rest of the bridge, “Target all forward cannons on the Pentallian.” At his command, the plethora of weapons on the Divine Providence began targeting the Pentallian. “Fire at will.”  
The duel heavy plasma cannons began opening fire at the Pentallian, great green bolts of energy flew into their target…and kept going. The Pentallian faded from view and the plasma blots impacted harmlessly on debris from the earlier battle.   
“Where did it go!?” Valantyne yelled at the nearest Ensign.   
“Sir, ship approaching from our rear!” The Sensor officer shouted out.   
“Visual! Now!” Valantyne commanded. A hologram of the aft section of the ship appeared, showing the Pentallian appearing from behind a huge piece of wreckage. Its four forward chase cannons opened fire on the exposed flying bridge of the Divine Providence.   
“COVER!” Valantyne yelled dropping to the floor as high velocity railgun rounds blasted through the bridge, ripping up consoles and crewmen. Many who survived the rounds were then sucked into the vacuum of space by the holes they left behind before the emergency shields activated. The Pentallian cruised past the ruined bridge and opened fire with the underslung broadside cannons. Spears of accelerated metal sheared through the decks of the Providence disabling systems with every volley. Struggling to lift his head, Valantyne surveyed what he could of the annihilated bridge…very few officers remained and those that did were badly injured.  
“Computer, take control of the cannons. Authorisation code: Valantyne 6-8-12. Activate.” With that he slipped into unconsciousness. The turrets began to turn to face the hostile target but before they could open fire, the Pentallian had jumped out of the system, leaving the Divine Providence dead in space.


End file.
